27 Jun CMS Announces Patient Care Improvements

ImagingBiz | Up to $500 million in Affordable Care Act (ACA) funding will be awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help hospitals and providers develop new programs, training, and monitoring initiatives aimed at improving patient care, the agency announced Wednesday.

The funds are being granted by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center, under the umbrella of CMS’ recently announced Partnership for Patients program. The public/private program aims to guard against millions of preventable injuries and complications related to healthcare acquired conditions and unnecessary readmissions.

“Since the Partnership for Patients was announced, we have had an overwhelming response from hospitals, doctors, employers, and other partners who want to be a part of this historic effort to improve patient safety,” says CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick, MD. “We are now looking to contract with local and statewide entities that can foster and support hospitals’ efforts to improve healthcare and reduce harm to patients.”

The Partnership’s goals entail reducing harm in hospital settings and hospital readmissions by a respective 40% and 20% over three years. To achieve these goals, the entity intends to contract with large healthcare systems, associations, state organizations, or other interested parties to support hospitals in redesigning care processes to reduce harm. As such, “Hospital Engagement Contractors” will be asked to design intensive programs to teach and support hospitals in making care safer, conduct trainings for hospitals and care providers, provide technical assistance for hospitals and care providers, and establish and implement a system to track and monitor hospital progress in meeting quality improvement goals.